ChrisCrossed Again
by Loxlighter
Summary: Only the good die young, or do they? Two great witches who died before their time must unite to save the future. But can they save eachother?
1. Chapter 1

I have no rights to Charmed or the characters associated with the show. This is not for profit and strictly for my own and (hopefully) your amusement.

Please R&R.

**Ch. 1**

Chris scrutinized the complex pattern on the attic wall. It was a modified version of the pattern he had used to help come to the past in the first place. Ideally, combined with the right incantation, it would prevent Wyatt or any of his minions from following Chris into the past. It was something he'd worried about from the beginning, but after the trauma with Bianca he gained an even healthier appreciation for his brother's spell-crafting abilities. He'd been afraid to try something so powerful and complicated, something unmentioned in the Book of Shadows. But his reluctance and stupidity had cost Bianca her life. He should have known Wyatt would send someone after him. He should have done this a long time ago. Now, in some ways, it was already too late. Bianca was dead, because of him. The sister's were more distrustful than ever now that they knew he wasn't a "real" Whitelighter. His whole mission seemed to be going to hell. Maybe dad had been right about him after all; maybe he really would never be anything more than a screw up.

No, he told himself, he couldn't allow himself those thoughts. He had to focus. What he was doing required all his concentration and he didn't have time for self pity. It had taken ages to puzzle out the wording, the pattern and then what seemed like ages waiting until he was sure none of the sister's would be in the house.

"Okay," he said aloud, "here goes nothing…"

"_Power of the witches rise_

_Course unseen across the skies_

_Ward the sibling from past malice…"_

Piper chose precisely that moment to walk into the room.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked loudly. Chris faltered. She was supposed to be at P3 meeting with an interior decorator. He stopped the chant unfinished.

"Er, um, I was just working on something to help Wyatt," he said.

"By sneaking into the house behind our backs and casting spells?" she asked, incredulous. Her eyes flashed with genuine anger. "I am sick and tired of being lied to Chris. Either tell me what's going on or GET OUT!" Chris tried to keep the hurt off of his face. He couldn't stand to have his mother look at him like he was a potential threat.

Then he noticed the pattern on the wall begin to glow and a vortex open up. Piper was immediately pulled back towards it. Chris instinctively reached out to grab a hold of her. The force was incredible. He realized he couldn't hold against it. He let go of Piper's hand and used his telekinesis to push her out the door to safety. Unfortunately, in doing, he lost his own foothold and went tumbling towards the portal.

The next he knew he lay on the ground and felt like he'd just come off of the mother of all benders. He groaned and got slowly to his knees, then his feet. He blinked the glare out of his eyes and saw with relief that he was still in the attic. Then he remembered unceremoniously hurling his mother out the open doorway.

"Piper," he yelled and ran out the door.

She wasn't there. He ran down stairs and was greeted by a site that made his breath catch. His mother lay unconscious amidst a pile of rubble. I looked like she'd been thrown threw a wall.

"Leo!" Chris shouted. He rushed over, and noticed another dark haired woman also lying in the rubble. He checked his mother first. She was in bad shape, but her pulse and breathing were steady. Then he checked the other woman. She wasn't breathing. Her pulse was thready. She was about to die.

"Leo!" Chris called again. Nothing. Typical.

Chris placed his hands over the wounded woman. He was half-Whitelighter. He had the power to heal her. He would be damned if he let another person die for his inability to master his power. He concentrated every scintilla of will and concentration. His head felt like it was about to explode; it screamed at him to stop. He refused. He reached into the same reservoir he used to orb and demanded more of it than ever before. Then he felt something, something he'd never fully felt before. An energy rushed from him into the fallen woman. He gasped and watched in wonder as her wounds started to close. It was working. It was actually working. The woman gasped a breath and sat up as the last of Chris's healing flowed into her.

She blinked at him in surprise from beautiful bluish grey eyes. Chris sat back in exhaustion.

"Thanks," she said. Then she saw Piper. "Oh my god!" She knelt over her. "Leo! Leo!" she said, a note of panic creeping into her voice. Then she looked back at Chris. "You, you're a whitelighter?"

Chris nodded

"Heal her," she said. He moved to comply. He placed his hands over his mother, but he was exhausted. He just didn't have the energy.

"What's the matter?" the woman asked. "Why aren't you healing her?"

"Can't," Chris grunted through his concentration. Then he relaxed; it was no use. He checked her pulse again.

"I don't think she's in any immediate danger," he said, as much to reassure himself as her. The thought of watching his mother die again was worse than he could contemplate. He shuddered. "I'll get her to the hospital."

"What kind of a Whitelighter are you?" she asked, eyes flashing.

"The kind doing everything I can to save my charge. Who are you anyway?" Chris asked.

"Your charge?" she replied with confusion. "I'm Prue Halliwell. Who the hell are you?"

His jaw dropped. As soon as she said it he remembered her from pictures and home videos. The only reason he hadn't noticed before was the stress of the situation. Then he thought back to the story of how she died. Oh no, what had he done? The future consequences were incalculable.

"This is the day you died," he said and dumbly stared at her. "We have to do something."

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What do you mean I died?"

Her words snapped him out of his stupor. Then a plan coalesced.

"Listen, I promise Piper will be fine, but we have to get out of here right now. I'll explain everything, but not here," he said.

"If you think I'm going to leave my sister like this then you're as stupid as you are incompetent," she said.

Chris so did not have time for this. He started chanting.

"_Let the alteration of objection become but a dream, _

_as I cause to be seen that which was supposed to be seen,"_

Prue lay still, bloody, and obviously dead on the floor. The real Prue gaped at her doppeldanger corpse. "What the…" but she was interrupted by someone orbing in.

That, Chris realized, would be Leo. He grabbed hold of Prue's arm and orbed them out before Leo could reappear.

They reappeared atop the Golden Gate Bridge. Prue angrily shook off his hold on her arm. 

"Listen, buddy, I don't know who you think you are and…where the hell are we?" she asked as she noticed her surroundings.

"Atop the Golden gate bridge," Chris answered. "It's one of my favorite places to think. It's also a good place to have a private conversation."

She glared at him and waived her hand. He flew from the top of the bridge and plummeted for a moment until he orbed himself back.

"What was that for?" he asked her.

"To show you I don't like being kidnapped by strange men, even if they did probably save my life." Her voice softened a bit. "Thanks for that by the way."

"No problem," Chris answered warily. "You gonna throw me from the bridge again?"

"Not if you tell me what's going on, starting with who you are and how I'm pretty sure I just watched you cast a spell," she said. She arched her eyebrows expectantly.

"Well, it's kind of a long story. For starters, my name is Chris," he paused, "Chris Halliwell. I need to get back to the future and I need your help…"


	2. Chapter 2: Back to the Future

**Ch. 2**

Prue listened in silence. She had asked for an explanation but this was a doozy. A dark future, an authoritarian regime ruled by her Stalin like nephew – who wouldn't even be born yet for a couple years. And, of course, the biggest bombshell of all was that fact that she was supposed to be dead for all of this. The last three years had given her an open mind, but this was a lot to accept. Yet, as she watched Chris talk, as she saw the fire and determination in those green eyes, he looked so much like Piper. How could he not be her son?

"Two boys," she commented, "I bet grams was thrilled."

Chris chuckled and rolled his eyes. "She gets over it."

Prue nodded. "So, I'm dead, the whole world goes to hell, and you're trying to fix it how again?"

"I'm sure something happens in the year before I was born, something to turn Wyatt evil. If I can figure out what or who, and stop it, I think I can save the future," Chris said.

"That's kind of a vague plan," Prue observed. This kid was earnest, but he obviously needed guidance.

He spread his arms in frustration, a very Piper like gesture. "Well it's not like I can just look in the Book of Shadows and find the solution. This is a bit more complicated."

Prue nodded. That was fair enough, but she was sure if she had a chance to observe the situation she could figure it out.

"That settles it. I'm coming with you back to the future. I'll help you save your little big brother," Prue said.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Chris said. "I really think it would change too much if you stayed in this timeline. They might never even find Paige."

"Well, I'm coming back once we're done" Prue said. She couldn't just abandon her life, could she?

Chris shook his head. "No, you can't. The next couple of years are really critical. There is no telling the future consequences. I think if things don't go the same way Wyatt and I might not even be born."

"What, so your existence is more important than mine?" she asked.

"No, of course not," Chris said. I mean, of course you have a right to exist, but it's not just me. It's everything. Whatever goes wrong, it goes wrong after the next three years. I just don't think we should risk everything that goes right until then."

She thought about his words. It didn't seem fair somehow. Then again, that was the story of her life. It wasn't fair that she and her sisters had to stand against the forces of evil, to risk their lives – to lose hers apparently – all for a public that would hopefully never know and, even if it did, probably wouldn't appreciate it. But it was a life she'd chosen. It was her sacrifice to make. Then something he'd said occurred to her.

"Wait, who's Paige?" Prue said.

Chris looked surprised. "Oh, right, of course you wouldn't know. After you, well, died, they found your long lost half-sister – the product of your mom and her Whitelighter's…," he raised his eyebrows, "anyway, they reconstitute the power of three and go on to fight demons happily or not, ever after."

Prue scowled. "That's convenient. It's nice to know I was so easy to replace."

"No it's not like that at all," Chris said. "My mom always said that you were the strongest one. You held them together during those first, hardest years when you hardly knew what you were doing. She said without you the Charmed Ones would have never existed."

Prue was touched. She didn't know why she felt a childish spike of anger at the thought of another "Charmed One". It was just hard to imagine a Charmed circle that didn't include her. She was a part of the power of three. To have it just end…best not get into those feelings quite yet. But what Chris said comforted her. She wasn't forgotten, at least. And, she had another sister, a baby sister. Wow. She looked deeper at Chris. There was such hope on his face. He needed her. It was then she decided. She had a job to do, a mission. She needed to save this poor kid from his own ill considered scheme. That was her job now.

"Alright," Prue said, "I'll come with you, and I won't come back. We'll just have to figure something out."

Chris broke into a huge smile and drew her into a big hug, which he broke off almost immediately and looked awkward.

"Sorry," he said. "It's just I've been alone for this so long, not able to show my feelings, not able to tell anyone who I am. It's just nice to have someone on my side. It's nice to have family again."

"Hey," Prue said, "What are aunts for?"

That drew another smile.

"What are we waiting for?" Prue said. "Let's hit the road."

"Roads," Chris said, "where we're going, we don't need roads."

Prue punched him in the arm, hard.

"Sorry," he said, wincing, "I've just always wanted to say that. I'm pretty sure I can re-work the spell that brought me back in time. We'll just need to get back in the attic."

"Would this be the same spell you messed up to get here," Prue asked.

"Hey, I was interrupted," Chris protested.

Prue had to laugh at his school boy like defensiveness.

"Okay," Prue said, "will they be home now?"

"No, after Leo couldn't heal you he orbed you to an emergency room in the hopes that, maybe…" he left the rest unsaid. Prue shuddered.

"Take us to the attic then," Prue said.

They orbed back. Chris busied himself drawing on the wall.

"Won't they notice that?" she asked.

"I'll set it to disappear after the casting."

Prue nodded. She felt weird, like she was looking at the attic for the last time. From what Chris said she'd appear right back here, but for all practical purposes she was leaving her life behind. She had been around long enough to know that the world of three from now would not be the world that existed today. People would move on, places would change. No one and nothing would be quite the same.

"You'll have to change your appearance," Chris said through her rumination.

"What, how?" Prue asked.

He rolled his eyes and looked at her like she was an idiot. "You're a witch, aren't you. Cast a glamour," he said.

Oh, right. Chris was a bit of a brat, she decided. She would have to see what she could do about that. But she decided he was right. At first, at least, it would be too much of a shock to show up as herself.

She mumbled a quick incantation, dropped a couple inches and transformed her hair to blond with a complexion to match.

He regarded her approvingly. "I like it. Very Buffy-ish."

She glared her response.

"Well it's ready," he said. "Think of a name. I'm going to say you're my cousin from the future."

He held out his hand. "Say the spell with me. I might need the power burst to make sure it works right." They clasped hands and began the chant.

_"Take us to where time last shifted,_

_To where twice bless remains uplifted_

_To save the child from psychic crime_

_Let us arrive in the right time."_

The pattern lit up, and together they stepped through the wall and right into the face of three very irritated looking Charmed Ones.

"Where did you disappear to?" Piper asked angrily. "And what were you thinking creating that vortex? Did you travel through time again?"

Chris frowned. "I was trying to keep anyone else from coming back in time after me, but you interrupted me. In case you forgot I saved you from getting sucked into it."

"Yeah, by throwing me like a baseball out of the room. That hurt, and why didn't you tell us you had that kind of power?" Piper said.

Chris was obviously flustered, so Prue decided she needed to take over.

"Hi," she said, "Maybe you should back off. Chris has been through a lot and needs to rest."

"Who the hell are you," Piper asked.

Nice to see you too, Prue thought. "I'm Brenda Perry, Chris' cousin, I'm here to help him save your son."

A woman Prue didn't recognize and assumed to be Paige said "Great, now there's two of you."

"Yes," Prue said, "but I'm the competent one." That drew a moment of amused silence from the girls, and a look of resentment from Chris. "Listen, I know Chris has screwed a lot of things up, but I'm here to fix that. I promise we'll get to the bottom of it and no more sneaking around to do it. Piper, I know the most important thing in the world to you is to protect your family and I just want to help you do that. Just give me a chance, don't judge me by Chris' actions and let me work with you. I can honestly say helping the Charmed Ones is the single most important thing to me right now."

Piper looked at her long and hard, as did Paige and Phoebe.

"I believe you," Piper said. Then she looked at Chris. "And he does seem tired. Why don't you rest up a bit and we can talk about it more later."

Prue nodded in satisfaction. "Alright Chris," she held out her hand. "Let's go wherever it is you go."

Chris grabbed her hands and they orbed out to a room Prue recognized as a back room at P3.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence back there," he said.

Prue shrugged. "It worked, didn't it. I can't get them to trust you if they don't trust me first."

Chris looked sullen, but nodded.

"Brenda?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know why, but the name just struck me."

Chris nodded absently and started pacing. "So I was thinking maybe the solution to all this is to bind Wyatt's powers."

"If he's as powerful as you say that would take a Power of Three spell," Prue pointed out.

"Yeah, but I think maybe I can convince the girls. It makes sense after all. No power, no reason for a demon to turn him."

"Except you'll be asking Piper to strip her child of his legacy and only means of self-defense. She won't have it," Prue said.

"Maybe a potion or something," Chris speculated.

Prue telekinetically shoved him. "You are not drugging my sisters. Besides, do you have any idea how they'd react when they found out?"

Chris glared over at her. "Whatever. I had a lead on a demon cult I was checking out before all this. I'm going to go check them out. Want to come."

"Yes, but for you need to get some rest," she said.

Chris rolled his eyes again. He seemed to do that a lot. "I don't have time for that."

"Make time. You look like an animated corpse. Trust me, I've seen them. Go to bed."

"What are you, my mother?" Chris asked.

"No, but since she doesn't know who you are it's up to me to make sure you don't kill yourself."

He looked ready to argue, but then a look of alarm passed over his face.

"Piper is calling me. We've got to go."

They orbed back to the living room of the manor. Furniture was strewn everywhere, and the clock – as always – had been blown up. Phoebe and Paige were unconscious on the ground. A half dozen hooded, black robed figures faced Piper. One of them held a blond haired baby boy and they were encased in some sort of blue energy shield. The figure held a wand. Piper's hands were held out, with a look of absolute fury on her face.

"Leave Wyatt alone," she said, voice shaking.

"I'm just giving Wyatt what he wants," the figure replied in a distinctly feminine voice.

Chris audibly choked up. "Bianca?" he said in tones of incredulity.

The figure turned towards them and pulled down the hood to reveal a lovely female face.

"It can't be. You're dead!" Chris declared.

"Your brother brought me back. He has power over life and death now. You should join him. Together you might even be able to bring back your mother," she said.

"I'll never join him," Chris replied, but he sounded hesitant and anguished. "I thought you understood that."

Her eyes were distant, soulless, like someone only going through the motions of being alive.

"He didn't just bring me back," she said. "He made me better." She held out her hand in a clenching motion and Chris dropped to his knees, face screwed up in torturous pain.

Prue tried to telekinetically throw the woman, but the shield protected her. Then she threw the couch at her, but it just incinerated when it hit the blue field. Piper's attempts to use her powers were equally ineffective. The woman, Bianca, just smiled.

"I'm not the only person alive who shouldn't be," she said as she shimmered out. The rest of the demons followed.


	3. Chapter 3: Telekinetic Ping Pong

A note on chronology: This story began after the events of "Witchstock". Everything up till that point is canon. The rest of my story will be a mixture of AU and original elements from season 6. An astute reader will notice some parts lifted from the original story line almost verbatim and other parts radically different. I hope to mesh the best of the original story with my own ideas.

Thanks to all who reviewed. Please continue to do so.

**Ch. 3**

His mother was yelling at him, but he didn't hear a word. He was too numb to care. Bianca was alive and back. But she wasn't really Bianca. Even when she'd come back before she'd still been human. She still cared. But now; that look of complete emptiness on her once expressive face would haunt him forever. What's worse is she took Wyatt. It was all he, Chris' fault. If he'd finished the warding spell to keep everyone back in the future this wouldn't have happened.

He tuned in to his mother's tirade just in time to hear, "You'd better tell me what's going on right now or I will blow you up myself!"

He blinked, and tried to control the sudden surge of grief Piper's harsh words cost him. He'd been so out of it he hadn't even noticed Leo orb in or his aunts being revived.

His voice was unsteady when he spoke. "I think W ah, an evil power from my time sent Bianca back to kidnap Wyatt. I'd been doing some research into a demonic cult called 'the order' that uses dark sorcery to turn powerful children evil. I think she must be working with that cult, and that they turned him evil, which is why his shield was protecting them instead of you."

"Did you know this was likely to happen?" Piper asked.

"Of course not. I would have stopped it if I knew; the whole reason I came back was to keep Wyatt from turning evil."

"Wait," Paige said. "Don't you mean stopping evil from hurting him?"

Chris cursed himself. Was there anything he wasn't doing wrong?

"The important thing is saving Wyatt," Prue interjected. "We can worry about details later."

"No," Piper said, and looked at Chris. "Your girlfriend from the future came back in time and stole my baby. And what was that about your brother bringing her back? I want to know the truth now so I can decide whether you can be trusted to help me get my son back."

Chris sighed. He had to tell her at least part of it, but he knew she wasn't going to like it.

"I didn't think you'd help me if you knew the truth. I knew you wouldn't. The evil from the future I came back to stop isn't a demon. It's Wyatt."

"You're lying!" Piper said.

"No, I'm not. He's gonna grow up and terrorize people with his powers, take over. Kill even," Chris said.

"Why should we believe you after all the lies?" Leo asked.

"Because…" he started.

"Because," Prue interrupted, "He has no good reason to lie to you about this. In fact, telling you makes you less likely to trust him – because anyone can see you don't want to believe it. You asked for a hard truth and he gave it to you. If he's been dishonest in the past it was to protect you from the pain you're feeling right now. You shouldn't punish him for that."

All three sisters and Leo seemed to consider Prue's words.

"I believe you're trying to help," Piper said to Prue. "But we can't trust him any more," she gestured to Chris. "I want you to leave," she told him.

"But I'm the only one who can save Wyatt. He raises his shield around me, which means if his morality is reversed he won't raise his shield now. I can get to him," Chris said. "Besides, I need to finish my ward in the attic to keep anyone else from the future from coming back."

"That's what you were doing when I interrupted you?" Piper asked.

"Yes," Chris answered.

Piper's eyes went from smoldering to volcanic. "If you had just TOLD US what you were doing instead of sneaking behind our back we would have helped you and my son would be safe. We'll set the ward and we'll save Wyatt, without you. GET OUT! I never want to see you again."

Chris couldn't respond. His words got stuck half way up his throat. The rational, thinking part of his brain assured him that Piper didn't know what she was saying. She didn't know he was her son. She didn't know everything that had passed between them in the future. She was speaking from anger, fear for Wyatt, and ignorance. He shouldn't take it personally. But the emotional part of him, the vulnerable little boy who had always held himself responsible for his mother's death, the part that would do anything – absolutely anything – to make her proud of him, that part was devastated. He felt tears start to well up. Oh for god sake, he told himself, you're a grown man. Suck it up, Halliwell!

He looked at Prue. For once she didn't say anything. Her eyes conveyed silent compassion. He grabbed her hand and orbed out.

What little control he held on to collapsed when they reappeared in his room at P3. He lay on the cot, rolled away from Prue, and cried.

After some time passed, he felt a hand on his shoulder and a weight settle next to him.

"Chris," Prue said softly.

"I was only trying to help," Chris said bitterly. "God, I've screwed up so badly. I just thought it would be easier if they didn't know, you know, less emotional, less risk. I needed them to follow my authority and not ask too many questions if I was going to do this without talking about Wyatt. The whole point was not to hurt Piper. And now, now…"

"Are you sure that was the whole point?" Prue asked.

He rolled over to face her. "What do you mean?"

"Wasn't part of the point not to hurt yourself? That woman, Bianca, she talked about bringing your mother back to life. Piper dies in your future, doesn't she?"

Chris couldn't bring himself to say it. He just nodded.

Prue drew him into a hug. "I understand," was all she said. The words were genuine and more powerful than any speech. He pulled away and looked gratefully from blood shot eyes.

"God," he said, "you must think I'm a real basket case." He telekinetically pulled a box of tissues over to dry his eyes.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You have my power?" she said.

Chris blinked at her. Oh yeah, she hadn't seen him use it yet.

"Yeah," he replied sheepishly.

She stood up and walked across the room. She gestured to one of his pillows and brought it to her hand.

"Let's see what you've got," Prue said and sent it hurtling towards him. He held out a hand to stop it. It hovered between them.

"Makes you proud, huh?" Chris said.

"I don't know," she said, "you any good?"

"Good as you," he answered. He was starting to enjoy the distraction. "Maybe better, I've had mine since childhood."

She raised her eyebrows in challenge. "Pretty cocky. Tell you what, I'll bet you I can hit you with this. If I'm right, you have to do what I say," she said.

"And if I can hit you then you'll do what I say," Chris answered. She nodded. "Alright old woman," Chris said, "you're on."

"Oh you're going to pay for that," she said and Chris felt the force pushing against the pillow increase ten fold.

Chris applied his will and from the concentrated expression on Prue's face she was doing the same. The pillow compressed to about the size of a baseball and spun rapidly in place. The room seemed to quiver with energy. It looked like a stalemate. Then Prue gestured to one side and the pillow flew off at an angle. Chris caught it with his will and gestured back towards her. She gestured at an angle to bounce of the floor and rebound up at him. At that point it tore in two, which both came at him from different angles. He barely caught them on the rebound and hurled them back. They went like this for some time, growing more and more creative bouncing the increasing number of shredded pieces off and over various obstacles and flying at insane angles, even changing direction in mid air.

Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and he lost track of the pieces. Prue remained in front of him. Her shoulders shrugged as though to say, "I don't know what happened." Then he felt the something gently bounce of the back of his head. He spun around, and there was another Prue sitting cross-legged on the bed and looking smug.

"Hey, no fair astral projecting," he said. She smiled and disappeared. "And what was that smoke anyway?"

"Just a simple obscuring potion I happened to have on me. I win," she said with a triumphal smirk.

"Cheater," Chris said. Then he laughed. Wow, how did that happen? At some point during the contest he'd forgotten to be miserable. It had been fun. And in that moment he realized what Prue had been doing.

"Thanks Aunt Prue," he said after a moment. "I needed that."

She nodded. "Let's go save my nephew," she said. "Do you know where this 'order'hangs out?"

"I've got a good idea. Let's go," Chris said. They orbed out and reappeared in a cave. It looked like the Charmed Ones had gotten there ahead of him. They vanquished a few robed demons, while one of them held Wyatt over an alter.

"Where's Bianca?" Prue asked. Chris shook his head. She was nowhere to be seen.

Wyatt's shield flared up and knocked Piper back. "He protects me now," said the demon. He formed a fireball.

Chris charged the demon and grabbed him. The demon lost control of the fireball and vanquished itself. What few of the others remained shimmered out.

"Pick up the scepter and point it at him," he told Piper. She did so and the shield vanished.

"How come he didn't raise the shield back up for you?" Paige asked.

"I don't know. Looks like he trusts me now at least," Chris answered.

Paige orbed the sisters back to the manor and Chris orbed Prue. Once they filled Leo in and settled Wyatt safely in the nursery everyone gathered in the living room.

"Thanks," Piper said. She looked uncertain, like she wasn't sure what to do with him.

"Your welcome," Chris said. "I hope I've regained at least some of your trust."

"Trust is a precious commodity," Leo said, "Once you lose it, it's pretty hard to get it back."

Chris suppressed his urge to lash out. Leo was a fine one to talk about losing trust. Too bad he didn't practice what he preached. But Chris knew he was in no position to take the moral high ground.

"I've screwed up pretty bad with you," he said to Piper. She nodded.

"Just be honest with us," she said.

He nodded but he knew it wasn't that simple.

"I think a lack of honesty is the whole problem here," Prue said. "I think it's time I let you in on the big secret."

Chris looked to her in utter panic and shook his head.

"No," he said. "You can't. Future consequences." He wasn't ready to face his mother, his other aunts. Prue said she understood. He thought they'd had a connection, an alliance. How could she betray his trust like this?

"Did you ever think the consequences of not telling might be worse than being honest," Prue said.

"No," Chris said, "not now, not like this." God, she looked so determined. He may not have known her for long, but he knew enough to realize his cause was lost.

"What not now," Piper asked impatiently. "What are you two babbling about?"

"My mind is made up," Prue said. She turned to the sisters, and regarded them each in turn. "It's time they knew the truth."

Chris had heard enough. He orbed out to the Golden Gate Bridge. He watched the sun settle into the ocean. Much like his plans, the light drowned in the waives.


	4. Chapter 4: Identity Crisis

Thanks to all who reviewed. Please keep it up. It may be a while till my next update as academic work will consume my soul (and time) for the next week and then I'll be transitioning into summer plans etc. But so long as I see sustained interest I will definitely get back to the story once I catch my breath. In any event, I hope you enjoy this installment.

**Ch. 4**

Prue sighed as Chris orbed out. He was a very volatile young man. If only he'd given her time to explain. Oh well. She'd have to do this on her own.

"So what's the big secret?" Piper asked.

Prue turned to her sisters. Here goes nothing. She waved a hand over her face and whispered the reversal spell. A shimmering light passed over her body and she emerged as herself, Prue Halliwell.

Piper, Phoebe, and Leo wore identical expressions of slack jawed shock. Paige just wrinkled her nose in confusion.

Phoebe was the first to speak. "P,p,prue," she stuttered. Tears welled up in her eyes. She practically leapt forward and engulfed Prue in a bear hug.

"Woe, okay," Prue said, returning the hug. "I love you too, but need to breathe." Phoebe pulled away and held her by the shoulders. She looked like, well, like she'd seen a ghost.

Piper wore a more skeptical expression. "Prue is dead," Piper said. "She died protecting me and an innocent. I went to her funeral."

"There are more things in heaven and earth than imagined in your philosophy, Piper," Prue quoted.

"Don't you bring Shakespeare into this," Piper said. "If you're Prue, prove it."

"Piper, it's her," Phoebe said. "I've sensed something when she first showed up. She felt so familiar, and she felt so strongly about us. I could feel her love for us. I'd assumed she just knew us in the future, but it makes so much sense."

Now it was Prue's turn to be confused. How could Phoebe "feel" her love? Could she be empathic? Prue certainly hoped not – she hadn't enjoyed her own brief empathic stint.

Piper was teary eyed now too. "Don't you think I want to believe her?" she asked Phoebe, "but magic can be fooled; we know that. I'm sorry; there have been way too many lies recently to just accept this."

"Well I think we should at least hear her out," Leo said softly. He looked at Prue. "How can you be who you appear to be?" he asked.

"When you had your fight with Chris you disrupted the ritual he was trying and accidentally sent him over two and half years further in the past, to the day we fought Shax. He found me near death and healed me," Prue said.

"But Chris can't heal," Paige pointed out.

"Well I guess he figured it out just in time," Prue said.

"He is half-Whitelighter," Leo pointed out. "He does have the power; it was just a matter of learning to use it."

"Exactly," Prue said. "Anyway. When he realized what he had done and how much it would change history he convinced me to come with him back to the future, to your present, and help him with his mission. We created a doppelganger so that it would still appear I had died and we conducted a ritual to get back to this time."

"She's telling the truth," Phoebe said, "at least she believes she is."

"Look," Prue said. She telekinetically pulled a coaster from the coffee table and set it spinning like a top in mid air. Then she set it back down.

"So," Piper said, "You're telekinetic. So is Chris. So is Grams for that matter."

"Yeah it runs in the family," Prue said before she could stop herself. She wasn't planning on revealing Chris' secret, at least not yet. She thought he should fess up, but it wasn't her decision to make.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Piper asked.

"I mean Grams and me, Melinda Warren, you know." Prue felt an overwhelming urge to change the subject. "So a lot of people have that power. But what about this?" She concentrated and projected an astral image beside her.

Piper looked momentarily taken aback, but her befuddled expression then hardened. "That just proves you did your homework and found a way to duplicate her powers," Piper said. Her voice had taken an edge of hysteria.

"Piper," Prue said, "do you remember when we were little girls and found that little bird in the garden? It had a broken wing and I thought we should just leave it, but you said we had to take care of it. So I helped you get it inside, and we spent the next two weeks hiding it from Grams and slipping it little bits of food. You cared for that thing like it was your own child, always sneaking away to check up on it. Grams was about to walk in on you one day and I knocked over that old lamp to distract her."

A mixture of emotions played over Piper. Finally a weak smile showed through her tear stained face.

"She was so mad at you," Piper said. "I thought you were going to be grounded for life. I thanked you so much for not telling on me. I said if you ever needed anything from me I would always owe you."

"I need you to believe me," Prue said.

Piper nodded and pulled Prue into a sobbing hug.

"When you died, I thought I'd never get through it," Piper said, "You were always the strongest and I, I almost gave up. Oh Prue, why did you leave us? Why did you leave us alone? Why does everyone I love leave?" Piper pulled away and regarded her with hurt little sister eyes.

Prue felt like she'd been kicked. She was fighting back tears herself at this point, even though for her she'd never really been gone. She shared a glance with Leo, who looked almost as pained as she.

"I didn't want to leave you guys," Prue said, "But Chris convinced me you needed me more in this time and that you needed to get to know Paige."

"Chris convinced you," Piper said, her tone turning angry. "Some strange guy from the future comes and says 'you need to let your sisters think you die' and you just go along with it. That son of a…"

"Piper, don't finish that sentence. Trust me when I say you'll regret it," Prue said. "Look, I know it sounds strange but I honestly believe that Chris is here to save you and our entire family from the worst tragedy imaginable. I can't go into all the reasons I believe him, but please trust me on this. Trust that I would never really abandon my little sisters – not for anything."

Piper visibly struggled to contain herself, but she finally managed. She pulled Prue into another hug, this one even tighter than Phoebe's.When she regained her breath Prue looked at Paige, who appeared something like a dear in the headlights. Paige extended her hand awkwardly.

"It's an honor to finally meet you?" she said.

"I think I need more than a handshake from my baby sister," Prue said. Paige smiled and hugged her.

As soon as Paige pulled back Leo replaced her. "It's good to have you back," he said softly. "I tried so hard to save you," his voice choked up slightly. "I'm sorry,"

"You did your best Leo," Prue said, "you always do." He pulled away and smiled gratefully.

"So which one of you is the big sister now?" Phoebe asked mischievously.

She traded thoughtful glances with Piper.

"I still have you beat," Prue said. "I was almost three years older and away for only two and a half. I've got a couple months on you yet. I'm still big sister." She looked at all her sisters with mock seriousness. "And don't you forget it."

That broke the tension and everyone laughed. It was tearful yet joyous laughter, the laughter of happiness born from tragedy.

They spent the rest of the evening talking of old times, not so old for Prue, and getting reacquainted. It was amazing how much had happened in the short time since she'd been gone. It was also nice to get to know Paige, the sister she never knew she had. Prue also got to "meet" her little nephew, who seemed not at like a totalitarian despot. After a couple hours Leo begged off and left to attend "elder business". Prue was shocked to hear they were separated – Chris hadn't mentioned that – and she could tell from Piper's wistful and hurt expression that there were serious unresolved issues between them. For Chris' sake she hoped they resolved them. They continued to talk late into the night. Paige finally went to bed around 2 a.m. and it was just the three original sisters. They sat on the couch. Phoebe and Piper seemed reluctant to leave, almost like they thought she'd just disappear again. Piper finally fell asleep with her head leaned against Prue's right shoulder. Phoebe did the same with her left shoulder. Prue smiled down at her sisters. She fell asleep with a sister snuggled on either side.

Prue awoke with a start. She had the creepy feeling she was being watched. She blinked her eyes against the light of day and saw a large young man dressed in black. He had long curly blond hair and wore an amused smirk.

"Aaah," he said when he saw she was awake. She felt her sisters jerk awake beside her. "I didn't mean to interrupt your Kodak moment. Honestly, it's touching. I think I felt a tear coming on."

"Who the hell are you?" Piper asked.

"What's the matter mom, don't you recognize your first born son?" the man said.

"No, it can't be" Piper said. Prue looked the man over. He did look kind of like an evil Viking version of Leo, and he certainly fit Chris' description. She didn't think he was lying.

"Such anger," Phoebe said. She shrunk away and held her head in her hands. "Such hate."

"What do you want?" Prue asked. "Why are you here?"

"Practical, to the point. I think I'm going to like you Aunt Prue. It's a shame you're dead," Wyatt said.

"You abandoned me," Phoebe screamed. She was looking at Piper. "You left us all alone in the world and I had to make things right. I had to avenge you and take care of the little brat. And then even he turned against me. They all turn against me in the end. They're all going to pay." Prue guessed she was channeling Wyatt's feelings.

Everyone moved away from Phoebe. Even Wyatt looked a bit put off. He took a few steps back and Phoebe subsided into sobs.

"You can't take little Wyatt," Prue said. She gestured violently and gave him her hardest telekinetic push.

He waived away her power like swatting an insect. "Oh no, I'm not getting fooled by the same trick twice. Not to worry though. I'm not here to take baby me. I know he'll be safer with mom than anyone else. I'm here for the same reason Chris is, to change the future. You see the more I thought about it the more I realized things could be better. There are still pockets of resistance to my rule in the future, enemies I can't quite seem to rid myself of. This time I'm going to get it right. This time none of my enemies will survive, my power will be absolute and I will bring an end to good and evil both."

"What do you want from us?" Piper asked in anguished voice. "How did I fail so badly?"

"I don't want anything from you" Wyatt answered. "I don't need anything from anyone. Tell Chris thanks for giving me the idea. He always was the clever one. Tell him I'm proud of him." His smirk broadened and he orbed away.


	5. Chapter 5: It's a Charmedful life

I'm back. Whew. You guys have no idea how long the past couple of weeks have been. But, if you're reading this then my absence did not drive you away. Thanks for being patient. As always, please R&R.

**Ch. 5**

Chris had avoided them for weeks, ignored their calls, orbed out when he sensed Paige coming. He just couldn't deal with it. He needed to think. But all his thinking hadn't brought him anywhere. Chris was back atop the golden gate bridge; he watched the water turn from pitch to teal as dawn broke. He dimly registered his body was cold, shivering – but he barely noticed. How could he face his mom and aunts, now that they knew? He knew it wasn't logical, but it was hard enough when they thought he was just an obnoxious time-traveler. How could he be family? He didn't remember how. He'd watched them all die. He had been on his own for so long he wasn't even sure he remembered how family was supposed to work. How could he face the fact that after all the time he'd spent in the past, after all his efforts, he was no closer to saving Wyatt – to saving all of them – than he had been when he started. And now that he'd brought Prue back he'd probably just screwed up the future even worse. All his talk about future consequences and he changed his whole family history. Great work there Halliwell. Maybe it would have been better if he'd never been born.

For some reason his attention was drawn to a man as he walked along the pedestrian path at the side of the bridge. The man stopped and climbed over the security railing. Chris had heard that an average of twenty three people a year commit suicide by jumping off the golden gate bridge, but he'd never seen it happen. It seemed unreal somehow, but even as he watched the man let go of the railing and started to fall. Without thinking about it Chris orbed down to the man and caught him in his orb trail. He transported them both back to his room P3. When they rematerialized he recognized the guy as the janitor from P3, an elderly black fellow who'd always greeted him with a nod and a smile. Even weirder than the fact it was someone he knew was that the man looked not at all perturbed by the magical circumstances of his rescue.

"Clarence," Chris said and couldn't think of a follow up.

"Chris," Clarence answered. "I'm glad I caught you before it was too late."

"Caught me," Chris said. "Wait a sec. I caught you."

"That's where you're wrong Chris. The fact is you've been falling for quite some time now."

"Alright," Chris said, now suspicious. "Who, or should I say what, are you?"

"I'm an angel of death Chris," he said matter of factly.

"Woe," Chris said and backed away. "Stay away from me; I'm not dead."

"No," Clarence agreed with a nod of his said, "but you're about to get your wish."

"What wish?" Chris asked.

"To never be born," Clarence said.

Chris felt numb when he realized what Clarence was saying. The timing was just about right. He'd been so busy wishing he was dead he hadn't realized he was about to be. His conception date was soon, maybe within days. He felt a moment of panic, but then it subsided.

"So what," Chris said. "It's not like it could be any worse without me."

"Do you really believe that?" Clarence said. "Think of all the demons you've vanquished since you got back and all the ways you've helped your mother and aunts. Think of the people you protected in the future. There are a lot of people who owe their lives to you."

"Yeah, people I put in danger in the first place," Chris said. But Clarence's words were soothing somehow.

"Trust me Chris, there is a very good future possible for you and your family, a future filled with happy siblings and cousins and in which all the charmed ones are alive and happy. You are the only reason that future is even possible; you are the only hope to set right the path that went wrong when Wyatt was turned," Clarence said.

Chris looked down at the ground. He wanted to believe the angel, he really did, but it seemed so far fetched. I mean he was Chris, the weak link, the least powerful Halliwell in generations.

"Real power doesn't come from the strength of your magic," Clarence said as though reading his thoughts. "It comes from here," he tapped Chris' forehead, "and here," he tapped Chris' heart.

Chris nodded.

"Am I going to have to show you how bad the world is in which you're never born?" Clarence asked.

"You can do that?" Chris asked.

"Sure, it's my last resort for people on a path to self destruction who aren't yet supposed to die."

Chris nodded again. "Wait a sec. That's kind of funny; I just realized you've got the same name as the angel in 'It's a wonderful life'."

"Yeah, not the best casting for me; but otherwise surprisingly accurate."

Chris' eyes widened. "You're that Clarence?"

The man nodded. Chris was impressed.

"So am I going to have to give you the same treatment?"

"No," Chris said, "far be it for me to argue with the man who saved Jimmy Stewart. What do I have to do?"

"That I can't help you with. You must find your own truth," the man said. He walked to the door and made to leave. At the last moment he turned back. "I hope I won't be seeing you again anytime soon."

"Ditto," Chris answered and the man left. Chris blinked. He had to think. No, thinking and feeling sorry for himself was all he'd been doing these past weeks. God knows what had happened to his family while he'd been a one man traveling pity party. He had to act, which first of all meant he had to see the sisters. He orbed to the attic of the manor and found Piper, mom, flipping through the book. She looked up.

"Chris," she said in surprise. "Where have you been? We'd about given up on you."

"Sorry," Chris said. God this was hard. At least she didn't seem too weirded out. "I was just afraid of how you'd react to…the secret." He looked at the floor, unsure what to say.

"Well it was a lot to deal with," Piper said. "But I don't know why you were so worried. I mean, it is a good thing after all."

Chris looked up hopefully. God it felt good to hear that.

"But we've got bigger issues," Piper, mom – he didn't know what to think of her as now – said. "Wyatt from the future came back and we can't figure out where he is or what he's up to."

Chris felt like a pile driver slammed into his solar plexus.

"What!" Chris said. "Wyatt, why didn't you tell me?"

"We tried," Piper said. "You weren't answering."

"We've got to find him. You have no idea what he's capable of," Chris said.

"We've been trying. But every trail turns up cold, and we were kind of distracted with Phoebe turning into Mata Hari and the headless horseman cutting off our heads," Piper said.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Not to worry, Prue got us out of it," Piper said.

Prue, so she'd told them that as well. It made sense.

"It doesn't matter," Chris said. "We've got to figure out how to save Wyatt from himself, and fast. You'll need dad. Oh, and you two need to get back together in a hurry."

She looked confused. "Whose dad? My dad doesn't have any powers. And what do you mean get back together?"

Chris was baffled. She was talking almost like…she didn't know.

"What exactly did Prue tell you," Chris asked.

"That she was Prue; what did you think she was going to tell us?" Piper asked.

He closed his eyes and sighed. All that worry and she hadn't even told them. He tried to think of some plausible lie, but it was no use. He didn't want to lie anymore. He needed his family. He needed mom, not Piper. Here goes.

"Piper," he said, "I am your son."

Just then Prue walked in and regarded them both in surpise. "Is this a bad time?" she asked.


End file.
